The quest for Aquarius (LALU week 2016)
by XxCherryXJellyxX
Summary: 'Bickslow, noticing her silent hint, rather unceremoniously smacked Laxus on the back of the head, promptly knocking off his headphones. Immediately Laxus shot a murderous look his way and was just about to chew off Bickslow's head when the spirit mage pointed at Lucy. "I need your help on a job," she said with the sweetest smile she could muster, ignoring his deadpan stare.'


_A/N: Look who's back, back again, shady's_ _back, tell a friend :D  
_ _Here I present to you the first chapter of a (belated) short fic that follows the themes of Lalu week 2016!  
_ _I hope you enjoy and celebrate LALU week responsibly (so only three smut fics a day kiddies!)_

 _Either way, please Review, Favourite, and Follow if you enjoyed my little bundle of joy (just kidding I stressed so much when I found out I was late and totally butchered the ending to this chapter, but no worries).  
I do not own Fairy Tail or any references throughout unless mentioned before!_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The quest to Aquarius (Prompt: Aquarius)**

A tired sigh passed her lips as she crossed off yet another town on her map. The large red X's were almost mocking her for her failure and she resisted the urge to throw the marker across the guild. Her quest to find Aquarius' key so far had been going terrible, scratch that worse than terrible, she had been looking for already three months and so far there was not a single lead. She had actually given herself a burn out from going on so many far away quests in hopes to find the key. Mira and Erza had to actually ban her from going on any quests for two weeks, but she didn't blame them. After Lucy had brought her friends up to date about everything that had happened, about everything she had discovered, after the war and to say that they were shocked was an understatement. Erza and Mira had organized a special girl's only weekend, much to the boys' annoyment, and if anything had become even more motherly towards Lucy than before. Mira and Erza both knew all too well what hardship felt like, so when they saw the sadness in Lucy's eyes when she spoke of her mother they couldn't just sit still.

"Lucy-nee, are you okay?" a small voice suddenly spoke up behind her.

Lucy turned around to come eye-to-eye with her favourite sky-sorceress. A smile graced her features despite her exhaustion, "I'm doing just fine, or at least a lot better than most of our members," she said and motioned for Wendy to sit next to her.

Wendy happily jumped on the bench and peered over to the map in Lucy's hand. "Still nothing?" She asked, her brows furrowing as she counted all the unmarked land.

"Nothing, nada, zip. I know the key will randomly manifest, but it seems it has it out for me. I haven't felt even the slightest pull or connection towards Aquarius, not even a sliver of something to let me know I am going in the right direction." Lucy helplessly let her head drop to the table, peeking through her bangs to watch Wendy scrutinize the map. "I have been all around Magnolia and surrounding, so I can say with certainty that it is nowhere near us. Which could only mean it lays beyond Fiore."

Wendy looked at the map once more, her eyes landing on Seven, the country closest to Fiore and known for their lack of magic. She really didn't know where to begin seeing as, if what Aquarius had said was true, the key could be somewhere even be as far as Sin. Lucy would have to actually travel all of Earthland in order to find the key. Wendy couldn't imagine the stress and pressure it must have been on Lucy, seeing as the Aquarius' key was so special to her. Trying her best to find a way to help her sister figure, Wendy comfortingly patted Lucy's back.

"Lucy-nee I promise I will go on as many quests as I can to help you." Lucy looked up, about to protest, probably trying to be modest, but Wendy beat her to it. "I know you would have done exactly the same if I were in your situation."

Lucy opened her mouth, trying to reassure Wendy that that wasn't needed, but one love filled smile immediately shut her up. With a small chuckle Lucy threw her arms around the small dragon slayer and hugged her tight. "Thank you Wendy, I can't believe how lucky I am to have all of you around me," she half-whispered.

Wendy giggled, "Well, I am forced to stay at the guild for another two weeks to watch over the mages that were severely wounded in Alvarez battle." Lucy nodded in understanding. "But, I happened to see a request hanging on the S-class board on my way to the infirmary. They need five mages, S-class included, to defeat a hoard of wild beasts in Seven."

Lucy's eyes lit up and before asking she had already jumped up to run to the second floor, Wendy following in pursuit. The S-class request board almost lit up like a beacon of hope in her eyes, almost running into a tongue-wagging Bickslow on her way. Her eyes shot to the freshly printed request that hung on the board, reading in bold letters:

 _Urgently requested: S-class mage and four accompanies to defeat large groups of various wild (magical) animals roaming mounting scape and surroundings. Payment: 1,500,000 bells (1,200,000 jewels). Please contact the mayor Dephire of Seven before accepting quest._

"That seems perfectly doable!" Lucy cheered and read the job once more, making sure not to skip a detail.

Wendy nodded, "Yes, after looking at the map I noticed you have yet to search in Seven, so I immediately thought of you," she said with a giggle, happy to see Lucy smiling brightly again.

Lucy's mind immediately went to Erza, who better to go on a monster hunting quest than the great Titania. She always had unimaginable fun together with Erza when they went on jobs together and it had been way too long since the last time. Her heart almost burst at the idea of how easy the job would be, not to mention there would be three other mages to make the job easy. All while Lucy could search for Aquarius' key and even if she didn't find anything she would be a hell of a lot closer than she was now. The request would be easy as pie, nothing to Erza and Lucy was pretty sure she could hold her own perfectly with her improved powers.

"Sorry Lucy, the master has chosen me to accompany him for an important guild master meeting. Isn't it exciting, though I am not the official master anymore, Makarov is trusting me in handling almost all the business that comes to look with being one," Erza said with sparkeling eyes and lifted a large stack of paper in her arms.

Lucy could have sword she had died right there in Erza's office. Her heart shattered in a million pieces and she resisted the urge to fall to her knees and beg. She should have known that Erza couldn't have gone on a job as far as Seven, the redhead barely had any time to go on a job within Magnolia. But it didn't make the disappointed any less as Erza apologized again with a sympathetic smile.

"Not worries Erza, I'm so excited for you. Can you imagine, you becoming our master? I'm sure Natsu would be a whole lot more careful when he goes on jobs. It would be heaven," Lucy joked and helped her friend straighten some documents.

Erza chuckled, "Yes, it would be an absolute honour, but we cannot rule out Laxus just yet. Prior to our little encounter with Tartarus he was training hard to become a master, but as of late he seems rather uninterested," she wondered out loud and let out a little sigh. "Now that I mention him, he might want to go on the job, I overheard him saying he wanted to go on an S-class."

Lucy pursed her mouth in thought, "It would be quite ideal seeing as Laxus would need hardly any help in defeating the monsters, but I highly doubt he would be jumping up to do a request with me. Seeing as Natsu usually follows me everywhere I go."

"Well, Natsu is bed ridden for at least another week or three, so that really won't be a problem. I'm sure he won't be opposed to the idea, Freed definitely won't be seeing as he has taken quite an interest in Celestial magic lately," Erza said, giving Lucy a reassuring smile. "But if he does, just let me know and I will let him see just how wonderful you are on jobs."

Lucy giggled at the darkness that formed behind Erza's eyes and gently patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about that, I might be able to teach him a lesson or two if he tries to mock me in any way," she joked, flexing her muscles and trying to mimic Erza's expression. "I'm just bummed that everyone is so busy lately, not that I'm one to speak, but everything has been so hectic. Everyone is trying to get back on track after the battle with Alvarez, god knows Mira has been up to her neck in reorganizing and re-informing about the job requests."

Erza nodded her head and followed Lucy out of her office. "Yes, I really hope we can get things back to normal by the end of the month. Everyone could use a hard earned break from all the terror we have been through."

Lucy sighed, thinking back on everything that had happened in just a short year. "Don't overexert yourself with all the work Erza, you know how Master always tries to worm his way out of paperwork." Lucy hugged her friend from the side, making sure not to knock over the mountain of paper, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek making Erza giggle.

"I should be the one saying that to you Lucy. Don't worry so much, you will find the key, I'm sure of it. And stay safe, I'll skin the bastard if anything happens to you, okay?" The same darkness from before swarmed in her eyes as she glanced over at the lightning dragon slayer seated in the corner.

Lucy flashed her smile filled with confidence and bid her friend goodbye, not before promising to quickly visit before she went on the job. Taking a deep breath of determination she made her way towards Laxus, who was unfortunately wearing his headphones. He had his feet propped on the table while Bickslow comically played with his 'babies'. The spirit mage was quick to notice her, probably sensing her aura, and flashed her a pervy,albeit friendly, grin. No matter how annoying his expletive behaviour could be, his grin was infectious and she couldn't resist returning his gesture with a large smile.

"Eeeyyy~ How's it goin' cosplayer? Haven't talked to you in quite a while," he said bringing his hands up and wiggling his tongue to display his excitement.

"Indeed we haven't Bickslow. The last time I believe I kicked you in the face for trying to touch my rear, am I right?" she said with a cheeky smile and seated herself across him.

A loud laugh escaped his mouth, "Look at us, baskin' in our precious memories. We're almost a puke worthy couple." Lucy made a smooching sound making Bickslow laugh even harder. "Well, even though I know we both enjoy remembering the pats, what brings ya hear?"

"I am hear to speak with Laxus," she said and motioned towards said dragon slayer.

Bickslow huffed and rested his chin on his open palm. "Man, this is how it always goes. Why do I always have to be the wingman?" he said annoyed and made a face towards his friend.

Lucy snorted, "Yea, well I actually wanted to talk to him about a request, which you are more than welcome to join if Laxus is up for it," she explained and idly stared at Laxus, willing him to open his eyes and acknowledge her presence.

Bickslow, noticing her silent hint, rather unceremoniously smacked Laxus on the back of the head, promptly knocking off his headphones. Immediately Laxus shot a murderous look his way and was just about to chew off Bickslow's head, when the spirit mage pointed at Lucy. His eyes followed the finger and with hard eyes he set his gaze on her. She smiled in an attempt to lighten his mood, but he stayed emotionless. In the back of her head a voice told her to just leave him be and maybe ask Mira. She brushed away the thought, seeing as Mira was busy enough as it was, and she refused to scare away from her guildmates. Laxus may seem hard on the exterior, but she knew him better than he would expect.

"Sorry to bother you Laxus," she started, "But I was wondering if u were up for a job."

She could see him processing what she had just said and he furrowed his brows. "I don't go on B-class jobs unless it is necessary," he said simply and made an attempt to put his headphones back on.

In a flash Lucy grabbed the lacrima-pods and held them out of reach. With large eyes Laxus followed her movements, giving her a shocked death stare. She in return only smiled as sweetly as could. "It is not about a B-class job, I am asking you to go on a S-class job together." He stayed still, so she decided to elaborate. "I am looking for something important and it may or may not be in Seven, where the job is requested. However since it is an S-class job I will need an S-class mage to accompany me. You are the only one that doesn't seem busy."

Laxus collected himself, glancing at Bickslow who only grinned, and grabbed his headphones back after she was done explaining. "Okay, first of all, you would be accompanying me, not vise-versa. Second, if it is so important why don't you just go to Seven without doing a job. And third, I am in fact busy," he said gruffly and put his headphones back on his ears.

Lucy lifted one pod from his ear, electing a growl which she ignored. "I still need money so doing a job would kill two birds with one stone. Besides, like I said, it may or may not be there so if I go and it isn't, it wouldn't be for nothing," she said moving the pod behind his ear. "Please, Laxus. I wouldn't have asked unless I really needed to," she half-whispered, letting a bit of the desperation inside of her mix in her voice.

Laxus sighed, slumping a little in his chair and looked her directly in the eye. "What kind of job is it?" he asked, regret already in his eyes.

Immediately brightening up Lucy grabbed the request from the board and showed it to him. "We have to defeat a few groups of monsters, so easy-peasy for you! Before you know it, it will be over and you will have some money to spare."

"Payment isn't exactly high for an S-class," he mumbled and read the job flyer. Lucy watched him closely, eyes shining with hope as he placed the flyer on the table. "Fine, I'll go, but my team is coming with me and you'll have to find a fifth member. Just not Natsu, Redfox, or Gray, I would like to keep the job as quiet as possible."

"Of course! I wouldn't have it any other way!" she cheered and jumped up from her seat. In the midst of her excitement she wrapped her arms around Bickslow and Laxus, hugging them from the side. "Thank you so much, you won't regret this, I promise!"

She could hear Bickslow elect an odd sound of surprise at her hug and felt Laxus stiffen under her arm. It didn't bother her however, she was over the moon to say the least. She honestly felt confident about Seven, almost like she could feel it in her bones that she would find something there. She knew for a fact that Freed and Bickslow would also be a great big help in finding Aquarius' key. But that brought the question, who would she ask to be their fifth member. Once again on the ground floor she let her eyes roam the guild hall. It was awfully quiet, with a great number of mages in the infirmary and another busy with quests there really weren't that many left to pick from. But even the mages that were present were quite obviously busy, taking Levy as an example who was in charge of restocking the guild's _entire_ library.

Suddenly her eyes caught a flash of bright blue, sitting on their own in the corner was Juvia with a large frown on her face, no doubt missing Gray. A large smile formed on Lucy's face and she excitedly waved in the water-mage's direction. "Hey Juvia, are busy, because I have a great proposition for you!"


End file.
